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Indianapolis airport looking at retail, food changes

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indianapolis International Airport officials hope to put more food and merchandise past security checkpoints and closer to the airport's gates in order to boost business.

The area beyond the airport's security checkpoints averaged almost $980 in sales per square foot, compared to almost $530 in sales in non-secured area, the Indianapolis Business Journal reported .

Many vendor contracts are set to expire in 2018 - a decade after the airport's new $1.1 billion passenger terminal opened. Airport officials are considering making more retail available on the terminal's concourses beginning in 2019.

"We're going through space planning literally as we speak," said David Shaw, director of concessions and air services at the Indianapolis Airport Authority. "All options are on the table right now."

About 44 percent of concessions are currently in a pre-security area.

Passengers typically want to get through security before they think about shopping or eating, Shaw said.

"We are over-concessioned in pre-security," he said.

Airport officials hope to include more local businesses, as only a third of the current vendors have area ties.

"When people land in Indianapolis, if they've never been in Indianapolis, we want them to know they're in Indianapolis," Shaw said.

Officials also hope to provide more fast-casual food options. The airport plans to solicit vendor proposals in January and will select vendors in late 2018, Shaw said.

Concessionaires pay a minimum monthly amount or 15 percent of gross monthly sales.

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Information from: Indianapolis Business Journal, http://www.ibj.com

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